The hope, of course, is that this course of treatment will spur healing and finally allow Iwakuma to maintain steady progress. But the expectation had been that the veteran starter would long since have advanced back to the majors.

Still, Iwakuma’s halting recovery is an ongoing concern for a club that continues to hover around .500 — along with much of the rest of the American League. Indeed, Divish notes that there’s at least a strand of thinking in the organization of the belief that Iwakuma won’t contribute again this season.

It’s still anyone’s guess just how the M’s will approach the deadline with the division out of reach but a Wild Card berth still fully plausible. Seattle will have an opportunity to see how Iwakuma progresses over the next three weeks or so, and the on-field results will also impact the calculus. If the team looks into additions, though, the rotation arguably represents the primary area of need — particularly with southpaw Drew Smyly now ruled out for the year following Tommy John surgery.

Comments

When he comes back next week throwing mid 90’s again we will know what they really injected into him. Moving on, if I were in charge of the Mariners I do a complete rebuild, but clearly I am not and Mr. Dipoto is clearly invested into this core as they extended Segura. So because I’m not in charge and what I think they should do is is trade for a starting pitcher with control. They can afford another big contract with Iwakuma, Gallardo and Cishek coming off the books. Now they also don’t have the prospects to get Quintana or Archer unless they are trading Haniger+Lewis+O’Neil+Neidert+Brayan Hernandez, and that’s probably not even enough. So that leaves a few guys left, Cueto, who probably opts out so that may not be the best, possibly Danny Duffy if the Royals are willing to trade him, or Justin Verlander. I think Verlander fits the best as he’s controlled until 2020 for about 25 million a year. That contract fits well as the Mariners only have 86 million committed for 2019, and it continues to go down after that. Also, Verlander isn’t having a great season and the big contract make it so that it won’t cost the world even though the Tigers make it seem like it will. So if the Mariners take on enough of that contract they can probably get him without giving up Kyle Lewis. This way they will still have Lewis, White, Carlson, and possibly Brayan Hernandez, keeping the farm well stocked. They will also still have a very good rotation, that will depend on if Moore becomes a 3 or a 5 until 2020. Verlander, Felix, Paxton, Jerry will probably trade for another starter, and then Andrew Moore. And the lineup will be mostly the same besides DH, 1st base and catcher. And the bullpen also has a few young arms that have high ceiling but have been very inconsistent this year. And with little money committed to the future they can afford to fill in the holes. And obviously, Cano, Felix, Seager, and possibly Verlander will most definitely decline as they continue to age.When he comes back next week throwing mid 90’s again we will know what they really injected into him. Moving on, if I were in charge of the Mariners I do a complete rebuild, but clearly I am not and Mr. Dipoto is clearly invested into this core as they extended Segura. So because I’m not in charge and what I think they should do is is trade for a starting pitcher with control. They can afford another big contract with Iwakuma, Gallardo and Cishek coming off the books. Now they also don’t have the prospects to get Quintana or Archer unless they are trading Haniger+Lewis+O’Neil+Neidert+Brayan Hernandez, and that’s probably not even enough. So that leaves a few guys left, Cueto, who probably opts out so that may not be the best, possibly Danny Duffy if the Royals are willing to trade him, or Justin Verlander. I think Verlander fits the best as the M’s have payroll flexibility with a few contracts coming off the books this year, and I don’t think it will be as high of a price to get him as the Tigers are saying if the team trading for him takes on a lot of the contract.

Your post is almost unreadable in format but your ideas I can read are crazy. They have $45M coming off the books just in pitching next season. They don’t need to tear down the team nor do they need to trade the future. Keep the core, develop prospects, and add the team as needed…they are close to being a real contender.

You must be crazy or just must not understand the MLB to think that the mariners would acquire Verlander. High asking price/bloated contract makes it a no go not to mention he has a full no trade clause

Seriously, it’s clear you spent a lot of time tapping out your post, but a block post like that just looks like a tule fog chain-reaction accident of words. If you expect the reader to parse the words and figure out what you’re trying to say, few will actually do so–and that means all your hard work is wasted.

Did you get a shot in the arm before writing this post? Hahaha. Seriously tho, I’m trying to have an open mind to your ideas, I get that you’re just hypothesizing but you failed to tell me why you’re rebuilding? 80g to go, you dk if the M’s are going to miss out on the WC

He might need to learn the Southpaw knuckleball. The arm seems to be in trouble. Throwing 84mph is Homerun derby speed. I trust Jerry DiPoto will come up with a killer move to replace him arm in the long run to the Wildcard.

This isnt really rocket science. They don’t have enough pitching to get through this season with a winning record. And there is not enough on the farm to trade for anything impactful. There is still a nice core and a little finincial wiggle room so dont do a “teardown”. The only asset they have that can net anything is Cruz. Get a SP prospect or two, maybe one who’s close and one lotto ticket. Trade Valencia and Dyson for something. Give Vogelbach and maybe even DJ Peterson some ABs in the last couple months to see if you have anything there. They should be able to be just fine spending 20mil per on a FA #2-3 starter. Maybe Cueto. Or maybe you go midgrade stopgap and pay Greg Holland and put Diaz in the 8th. All of a sudden its a sick bullpen. Just spitballing here. Im a diehard, i hate hoping for Fing next year again, but its for the best.

Besides SP and 1st base the Ms have their position players set for awhile. DH is something they will have to look at. Vogelbach doesn’t look like the answer right now hopefully Cruz comes back for a couple more years. I am also hopeful White can speed through the minors and be that 1st bm we need.

Some of the young pitchers are getting experience way before we thought they would and are looking good. If we find another real good one whether it be a guy who makes a big jump in the minors or we trade for a guy that turns out to be Randy Johnson I don’t care. We need another young durable arm.

The youth will have some time you grow together and become a team. They will learn the rigors of every day MLB life. I see a lot to look forward to. No need for a rebuild the infield is set except 1st but hopefully he is only a few years away. There is some promising pitching there we need 1 or 2 more. I have gone into seasons thinking this team could be good but it has been a long time since I have felt they could be good for a long run. Now with minor tweaks they can.